Systems and methods for rapid setup of telephony communications

ABSTRACT

When an incoming communication is directed to a telephony device that is capable of conducting an IP based communication via an IP telephony system and a cellular-based communication via a mobile telephony service provider, the communication is initially setup as a cellular-based communication via the mobile telephony service provider. At the same time, an IP-based communication channel is setup between the telephony device and an IP telephony system. Once the IB-based communication channel is available, the communication is transitioned from the cellular-based communication channel to the IP based communication channel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to Internet Protocol (IP) telephony systems.More specifically, the invention is related to systems and methods forterminating a communication to a telephony device that is capable ofconducting both an IP-based communication over a data network and acellular-based communication via a mobile telephony service provider.

Before a telephony device can receive an incoming communication from anIP telephony system via a data network, the telephony device mustregister with the IP telephony system. During the registration process,the telephony device informs the IP telephony system of the IP addressat which it can be reached.

Unfortunately, many telephony devices do not maintain a constantconnection with an IP telephony system from which they can receivecalls. For example, an IP telephony software application that is used bya smartphone to communication with an IP telephony system must typicallybe actively running on the device in order for the software applicationto maintain a connection to the IP telephony system. If the softwareapplication is not running, no connection will exist between thetelephony device and the IP telephony system, and it will be impossiblefor the IP telephony system to route an incoming communication to thetelephony device.

There are ways, however, for an IP telephony system to cause a telephonydevice to begin running an IP telephony software application. Typically,as soon as the software application is run, it registers with the IPtelephony system. One common way is for the IP telephony system to causea push notification to be sent to the telephony device. When the pushnotification is received by the telephony device, the mere receipt ofthe push notification may be enough to cause the IP telephony softwareapplication to run. Alternatively, the push notification may cause aquery to be displayed to the user. If the user responds in anaffirmative fashion, the IP software application will be run. If not,the software application is not run.

When an IP telephony system receives an incoming communication that isdirected to a telephony device having an IP telephony softwareapplication, the IP telephony system usually first checks to see if theIP telephony software application on the telephony device is registered.If so, the communication can be immediately routed to the IP telephonysoftware application. If not, the IP telephony system causes a pushnotification to be sent to the telephony device, to thereby cause the IPtelephony software application on the telephony to begin running, and toregister with the IP telephony system. Once the IP telephony softwareapplication has registered with the IP telephony system, the incomingcommunication can be routed to the IP telephony software application onthe telephony device.

Unfortunately, performing all these steps can take a significant amountof time. If the incoming communication is an incoming call from acalling party, the calling party may become tired of waiting for thecall to connect and may terminate the call attempt. Alternatively, thecalling party may assume that the long delay means that an error hasoccurred, and the calling party will terminate the call attempt, eventhough the process described above is still in progress. Basically, anytime that there is a significant delay in setting up a communication tothe called telephony device, there is a chance that the calling partywill prematurely terminate the setup attempt. Thus, there is a need foralternate procedures which can be used by IP telephony systems toquickly setup a communication to a telephony device so that the callingparty will not prematurely terminate a communication setup attempt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a communications environment including variouselements which are associated with an Internet protocol (IP) telephonysystem in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of various elements of a processor that forms partof an IP telephony system or an IP telephony device according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is block diagram illustrating various elements of an IP telephonysystem according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of various elements of a telephony deviceaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is flowchart illustrating steps of a first method according tothe invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a second method according toan embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of preferred embodiments refers tothe accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of theinvention. Other embodiments having different structures and operationsdo not depart from the scope of the present invention.

In the following description, the terms VOIP system, VOIP telephonysystem, IP system and IP telephony system are all intended to refer to asystem that connects callers and that delivers data, text or videocommunications using Internet protocol data communications.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a communications environment 100 is providedto facilitate IP based communications. An IP telephony system 120enables connection of telephone calls between its own customers andother parties via data communications that pass over a data network. Thedata network is commonly the Internet 110, however, private datanetworks may form all or a portion of the data communication path. TheIP telephony system 120 is connected to the Internet 110. In addition,the IP telephony system 120 is connected to a publicly switchedtelephone network (PSTN) or cellular network 130 via one or moregateways 122.

The gateway 122 allows users and devices that are connected to the PSTNor cellular network 130 to connect with users and devices that arereachable through the IP telephony system 120, and vice versa. In someinstances, the gateway 122 would be a part of the IP telephony system120. In other instances, the gateway 122 could be maintained by a thirdparty.

Customers of the IP telephony system 120 can place and receive telephonecalls using an IP telephone 108 that is connected to the Internet 110.Such an IP telephone 108 could be connected to an Internet serviceprovider via a wired connection or via a wireless router. In someinstances, the IP telephone 108 could utilize a data channel provided bya cellular telephone system 130 to access the Internet 110.

Alternatively, a customer could utilize a normal analog telephone 102 awhich is connected to the Internet 110 via a telephone adapter 104. Thetelephone adapter 104 converts analog signals from the telephone 102 ainto data signals that pass over the Internet 110, and vice versa. Also,as illustrated in FIG. 1, multiple analog telephones 102 a and 102 bcould all be coupled to the same telephone adaptor 104. Analog telephonydevices include, but are not limited to, standard telephones anddocument imaging devices such as facsimile machines. A configurationusing a telephone adapter 104 is common where all of the analogtelephones 102 a, 102 b are located in a residence or business, and allof the analog telephony devices are connected to the same telephoneadapter. With this configuration, all of the analog telephones 102 a,102 b share the same telephone number assigned to the telephone adaptor104. Other configurations are also possible where multiple communicationlines (e.g., a second telephone number) are provisioned by the IPtelephony system 120.

In addition, a customer could utilize a soft-phone client running on acomputer 106 to place and receive IP based telephone calls, and toaccess other IP telephony systems (not shown). In some instances, thesoft-phone client could be assigned its own telephone number. In otherinstances, the soft-phone client could be associated with a telephonenumber that is also assigned to an IP telephone 108, or to a telephoneadaptor 104 that is connected to one or more analog telephones 102.

A third party using an analog telephone 132 which is connected to thePSTN 130 may call a customer of the IP telephony system 120. In thisinstance, the call is initially connected from the analog telephone 132to the PSTN 130, and then from the PSTN 130, through the gateway 122 tothe IP telephony system 120. The IP telephony system 120 then routes thecall to the customer's IP telephony device. A third party using acellular telephone 136 could also place a call to an IP telephony system120 customer, and the connection would be established in a similarmanner, although the first link would involve communications between thecellular telephone 136 and a cellular telephone network. For purposes ofthis explanation, the cellular telephone network is considered part ofthe first PSTN 130.

In addition, mobile computing devices which include cellular telephonecapabilities could also be used to place telephone calls to customers ofthe IP telephony system 120. For example, both a first smartphone 137and a second smartphone 138 have cellular telephony capabilities so thatthey can conduct cellular-based communications via the cellular network130. The first smartphone 137 and second smartphone 138 also have theability to run an IP telephony software application that can conductIP-based communications through the IP telephony system 120, via datacommunications which pass over the Internet 110. The first smartphone137 and second smartphone 138 are capable of establishing a data networkconnection for this purpose. For example, the first smartphone 137 andsecond smartphone 138 may be capable of communicating with a WiFi routeror some other wireless data access point which provides access to theInternet 110. The first smartphone 137 and second smartphone 138 mayalso be capable of establishing a data connection to the Internet 110via a data channel provided by the cellular network 130, such as a 3G or4G data connection. Of course, alternate embodiments could utilize anyother form of wired or wireless communications path to enablecommunications.

Users of the IP telephony system 120 are able to access the service fromvirtually any location where they can connect to the Internet 110. Thus,a customer could register with an IP telephony system in the U.S., andthat customer could then use an IP telephone 108 located in a countryoutside the U.S. to access the services. Likewise, the customer couldalso utilize a computer outside the U.S. that is running a soft-phoneclient to access the first IP telephony system 120. Further, in someinstances a user could place a telephone call with the analog telephone132 or the cellular telephone 136 that is routed through the PSTN 130 tothe IP telephony system 120 via the gateway 122. This would typically beaccomplished by the user calling a local telephone number that is routedto the IP telephony system 120 via the gateway 122. Once connected tothe IP telephony system 120, the user may then place an outgoing longdistance call to anywhere in the world using the IP telephony system'snetwork. Thus, the user is able place a long distance call using lowercost IP telephony service provided by the IP telephony system 120,rather than a higher cost service provided by the PSTN 130.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a push notification service 140. The pushnotification service 140 is capable of delivering push notifications totelephony devices for various purposes. A push notification may bedelivered to a telephony device via a data network connection to thetelephony device, such as via the Internet 110. Alternatively, a pushnotification could be delivered to a telephony device via a cellularnetwork 130.

One example of a push notification service 140 is the Apple PushNotification Service (APNS), which is presently designed to sendmessages to at least the Apple iPhone™, the Apple iPad™ and the AppleiPod Touch™ devices. The push notifications are rigidly formattedmessages that can be received by such devices anytime they are runningand connected to either the Internet or a cellular data network.

Although the APNS is an example of a push notification service, thisexample should not be considered limiting. Other push notificationservices that have different message formats and different capabilitiescould also be used.

The Apple Push Notification Service allows an application that isinstalled on an Apple device such as the Apple iPhone™ to complete aregistration process that results in the application receiving a devicetoken. The device token uniquely identifies the mobile device itself.The application on the mobile device then provides this token to theservice provider that created the application on the mobile device.

Once the service provider has possession of the token associated with amobile device, the service provider can cause the APNS to send pushnotifications to the mobile device. A request for a push notificationthat is sent from the service provider to the APNS would include thedevice token, and information about the type of push notification thatis to be sent to the mobile device.

When the APNS receives a push notification request from a serviceprovider, it uses the information in the request to create a formattedpush notification that it then delivers to the mobile device. The pushnotification can cause the mobile device to take several differentactions. For example, a push notification can cause the mobile device toupdate a number displayed on a badge associated with the serviceprovider's application. The number usually indicates that newinformation is available to the application, and the number may indicatethe quantity of the new information. When a user sees a number on anapplication badge, the user can press the badge to load and run theapplication, which usually results in the application requesting andobtaining the new information that is waiting

A push notification can also cause a notification message to bedisplayed on the mobile device. The notification message will usuallyinclude two buttons that the user can press. One button, usually labeledas “DISMISS,” allows the user to dismiss the notification message. Ifthe user presses this button, the notification message will no longer bedisplayed, and no further action will be taken by the mobile device.

However, if the user pushes the other button, which is usually labeledas “VIEW,” the mobile device will load and run the application on themobile device that is associated with the service provider that causedthe push notification to be sent.

In other configurations, when a push notification is received by amobile device, the mobile device simply automatically loads and runs aparticular application associated with the push notification, withoutwaiting for user intervention.

As explained above, a push notification message is typically associatedwith a particular application that is resident on a mobile device. Insome instances, the application may already be running on the mobiledevice when a push notification message associated with the applicationis received. In this situation, the push notification message is passedalong to the application, either automatically, or only after the usergrants permission for the message to be passed along.

When a service provider requests that a notification message be sent toa mobile device, the service provider can specify the text that ispresented to the user as part of the notification message displayed onthe mobile device. The wording to be displayed is part of the pushnotification request that is sent from the service provider to the APNS.And the APNS uses this information to format the push notification thatis then delivered to the mobile device.

In the context of the present invention, the IP telephony system 120 mayhave provided an IP telephony software application which is loaded onthe first smartphone 137 or the second smartphone 138. Once theapplications are registered with the push notification service 140, theIP telephony system 120 is capable of causing the push notificationservice 140 to send push notifications to the first smartphone 137 andthe second smartphone 138. Such a push notification can trigger thesmartphone to load and run the IP telephony software applicationprovided by the IP telephony system 120. Thus, in turn, will cause theIP telephony software application to register with the IP telephonysystem 120 so that the IP telephony system 120 can route incomingcommunications to the smartphone.

FIG. 2 illustrates elements of a computer processor 250 that can be usedas part of the IP telephony system 120 or a telephony device toaccomplish various functions. The IP telephony system 120 could includemultiple processors 250 located at various locations in the system,along with their operating components and programming, each carrying outa specific or dedicated portion of the functions performed by the IPtelephony system 120.

The processor 250 shown in FIG. 2 may be one of any form of a generalpurpose computer processor used in accessing an IP-based network, suchas a corporate intranet, the Internet or the like. The processor 250comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 252, a memory 254, and supportcircuits 256 for the CPU 252. The processor 250 also includes provisions258/260 for connecting the processor 250 to customer equipment, toservice provider equipment, to and IP network or gateways, as well aspossibly one or more input/output devices (not shown) for accessing theprocessor and/or performing ancillary or administrative functionsrelated thereto. The provisions 258/260 are shown as separate busstructures in FIG. 2; however, they may alternately be a single busstructure without degrading or otherwise changing the intendedoperability of the processor 250.

The memory 254 is coupled to the CPU 252. The memory 254, orcomputer-readable medium, may be one or more of readily available memorysuch as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), floppy disk,hard disk, flash memory or any other form of digital storage, local orremote, and is preferably of non-volatile nature. The support circuits256 are coupled to the CPU 252 for supporting the processor in aconventional manner. These circuits include cache, power supplies, clockcircuits, input/output circuitry and subsystems, and the like.

A software routine 262, when executed by the CPU 252, causes theprocessor 250 to perform processes of the disclosed embodiments, and isgenerally stored in the memory 254. The software routine 262 may also bestored and/or executed by a second CPU (not shown) that is remotelylocated from the hardware being controlled by the CPU 252. Also, thesoftware routines could also be stored remotely from the CPU. Forexample, the software could be resident on servers and memory devicesthat are located remotely from the CPU, but which are accessible to theCPU via a data network connection.

The software routine 262, when executed by the CPU 252, transforms thegeneral purpose computer into a specific purpose computer that performsone or more functions of the IP telephony system 120. Although theprocesses of the disclosed embodiments may be discussed as beingimplemented as a software routine, some of the method steps that aredisclosed therein may be performed in hardware as well as by a processorrunning software. As such, the embodiments may be implemented insoftware as executed upon a computer system, in hardware as anapplication specific integrated circuit or other type of hardwareimplementation, or a combination of software and hardware. The softwareroutine 262 of the disclosed embodiments is capable of being executed onany computer operating system, and is capable of being performed usingany CPU architecture.

In the following description, references will be made to an “IPtelephony device.” This term is used to refer to any type of devicewhich is capable of interacting with an IP telephony system to conduct acommunication. An IP telephony device could be an IP telephone, acomputer running IP telephony software, a telephone adapter which isconnected to an analog telephone, or some other type of device capableof communicating via data packets. An IP telephony device could also bea cellular telephone or a portable or tablet computing device that runsa software client that enables the device to act as an IP telephone.Thus, a single device might be capable of operating as both a cellulartelephone and an IP telephony device.

Moreover, certain devices that are not traditionally used as telephonydevices may act as telephony devices once they are configured withappropriate client software. Thus, some devices that would not normallybe considered telephony devices may become telephony devices or IPtelephony devices once they are running appropriate software. Oneexample would be a desktop or a laptop computer that is running softwarethat can interact with an IP telephony system over a data network toconduct telephone calls. Another example would be a portable computingdevice, such as an Apple iPod Touch™, which includes a speaker and amicrophone. A software application loaded onto an Apple iPod Touch™ canbe run so that the Apple iPod Touch™ can interact with an IP telephonysystem to conduct a telephone call.

The following description will also refer to telephony communicationsand telephony activity. These terms are intended to encompass all typesof telephone communications, regardless of whether all or a portion ofthe communications are carried in an analog or digital format. Telephonycommunications could include audio or video telephone calls, facsimiletransmissions, text messages, SMS messages, MMS messages, videomessages, and all other types of telephony and data communications sentby or received by a user. These terms are also intended to encompassdata communications that are conveyed through a PSTN or VOIP telephonysystem. In other words, these terms are intended to encompass anycommunications whatsoever, in any format, which traverse all or aportion of a communications network or telephony network.

FIG. 3 illustrates selected elements of an IP telephony system 300according to one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the IPtelephony system 300 includes a call setup unit 310. The call setup unit310 includes an IP communication path setup unit 312, a cellularcommunication path setup unit 316, and a communication path transitionunit 318. The call setup unit 310 also includes a push notification unit314 which instructs a push notification service to send a pushnotification to a particular telephony device.

The IP telephony system 300 also includes a quality monitoring unit 320which is responsible for monitoring the quality of telephonycommunications which are being conducted by user telephony devices. TheIP telephony system also includes a CDR unit 322 which receives calldetail records relating to telephony communications passing through theIP telephony system 300. The IP telephony system 300 further includes abilling unit 323 which utilizes information from the CDR unit 322 inorder to bill for the communications handled by the IP telephony system300. The way in which these elements of the IP telephony system operateto perform methods embodying the invention will be described in detailbelow.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user telephony device 400 in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. The telephony device 400 includes awireless data transceiver 402 which is capable of communicating datapackets with a wireless access point that provides the telephony device400 with access to a data network. The wireless data transceiver 402would send and receive data packets that are used to establish andconduct IP based telephony communications.

The telephony device 400 also includes a wireless cellular transceiver404 which is capable of communicating with elements of a cellulartelephony system. The wireless cellular transceiver could communicate invarious different communication protocols with elements of the cellulartelephony system in order to conduct voice or video telephonycommunications. The wireless cellular transceiver 404 may also becapable of communicating data packets through a data channel of thecellular telephony system that provides access to a data network, suchas the Internet. This would allow the telephony device 400 to conduct anIP based telephony communication through a data channel provided by thecellular telephony system.

The telephony device 400 also includes an IP telephony softwareapplication 410. The IP telephony software application 410 is used toset up and conduct IP telephony communications with an IP telephonysystem, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 3. The IP telephony softwareapplication 410 may also be capable of directing or controlling thesetup and cancellation of cellular based communications.

The IP telephony software application 410 includes a registration unit412 that is responsible for registering with an IP telephony system.During the registration process, the IP telephony software applicationinforms the IP telephony system of an IP address at which the telephonydevice 400 can be reached. This allows the IP telephony system to routeIP based communications to the telephony device 400.

The IP telephony software application 410 also includes an IPcommunication path setup unit 414 which is capable of establishing an IPbased communication path with an IP telephony system. The IP basedcommunication path could be established through a data network using thewireless data transceiver 402 and/or the wireless cellular transceiver404. The IP telephony software application 410 also includes a cellularcommunication path setup unit 416 which is capable of establishing acellular based communication path utilizing the wireless cellulartransceiver 404.

The IP telephony software application 410 also includes a qualitymonitoring unit 418. The quality monitoring unit 418 monitors datapacket delivery statistics, such as packet loss, latency, and jitter, asa way of monitoring the quality of an IP telephony communication. Thequality monitoring unit 418 may also measure or detect the quality of IPtelephony communications in various other ways. Further, the qualitymonitoring unit 418 may directly interact with the user of the telephonydevice 400 to receive input regarding the quality of IP telephonycommunications.

The quality monitoring unit 418 may also monitor a strength of awireless connection established by the wireless data transceiver 402 toa wireless access point which provides access to a data network. Thequality monitoring unit 418 may further monitor a strength of a wirelessconnection established between the wireless cellular transceiver 404 andone or more elements of a cellular telephony system. The qualitymonitoring unit 418 could utilize native elements of the telephonydevice 400 in order to determine the strength of those wirelessconnections.

The IP telephony software application 410 further includes acommunications path transition unit 420. The communications pathtransition unit 420 is responsible for transitioning an ongoingtelephony communication between a cellular based communication path andan IP based communication path.

The way in which elements of the IP telephony system 300 and a telephonydevice 400 interact to perform various function in accordance with theinvention will now be described with reference to the flowcharts inFIGS. 5 and 6.

As explained in the Background section above, when an IP telephonysystem 300 receives an incoming communication directed to a telephonydevice 400 with an IP telephony software application 410, the IPtelephony system 300 checks to see if the IP telephony softwareapplication 410 is presently registered. If so, the call setup unit 310terminates the communication to the IP telephony software application410 on the telephony device. More specifically, the IP communicationpath setup unit 312 interacts with the IP communication path setup unit414 in the IP telephony software application 410 to setup an IP basedcommunication path that is then used to conduct the communication.

However, if the IP telephony software application 410 on the telephonydevice 400 is not registered with the IP telephony system 300, thecommunication cannot be immediately terminated to the IP telephonysoftware application 410. Instead, it is necessary to take steps tocause the IP telephony software application to begin running, and toregister with the IP telephony system 300. One way for this to occur isfor the push notification unit 314 to cause a push notification service140 (as shown in FIG. 1) to send a push notification to the telephonydevice 400. The push notification causes the telephony device to loadand run the IP telephony software application 410. At which point theregistration unit 412 registers with the IP telephony system 300 so thatthe communication can be terminated to the IP telephony softwareapplication. But if this process takes too long, the calling party mayprematurely terminate the communication setup attempt.

FIG. 5 illustrates steps of a method 500 that can be performed to morequickly setup the communication to the telephony device 400, to therebyhelp prevent a calling party from prematurely abandoning thecommunication setup attempt. The method 500 begins and proceeds to stepS502, where the cellular communication path setup unit 316 of the IPtelephony system 300 sets up a cellular based communication path to thetelephony device 400. This cellular based communication path could be acellular based telephone call that is placed by the cellularcommunication path setup unit 316 to the telephony device 400 via amobile telephony service provider, such as a cellular telephony system.In some instances, native elements of the telephony device will be fullyresponsible for answering this incoming cellular based call. In otherinstances, a cellular communication path setup unit 416 of the IPtelephony software application 410 on the telephony device 400 may beinvolved in setting up the cellular based communication path. Thecommunication then commences on this cellular based communication path.

By commencing the communication over the cellular based communicationpath, the communication can start very rapidly. In most cases, if the IPtelephony software application 410 on the telephony device 400 is notalready running and registered with the IP telephony system 300 when theincoming communication is received by the IP telephony system 300, thecommunication can be started much more quickly over a cellular basedcommunication path than by following all the steps necessary to setupthe communication over an IP based communication path.

Next, in step S504, an IP based communication path is establishedbetween the IP telephony system 300 and the IP telephony softwareapplication 410 on the telephony device 400. As explained above, thisoften requires that the push notification unit 314 instruct a pushnotification service 140 to send a push notification to the telephonydevice 400 to cause the telephony device 400 to load and run the IPtelephony software application 410. When the IP telephony softwareapplication begins running, the registration unit 412 conducts aregistration process. After which, the IP communication path setup unit312 of the IP telephony system 300 and the IP communication path setupunit 414 on the telephony device 400 can interact to setup the IP basedcommunication path via a data network.

The IP based communication path could be setup using the wireless datatransceiver 402 of the telephony device. Alternatively, the wirelesscellular transceiver 404 could be used to access a data channel providedby a mobile telephony service provider, and the data channel could beused to setup the IP based communication channel.

Next, in step S506, the communication is transitioned from the cellularbased communication path to the IP based communication path. This couldbe accomplished by the communication path transition unit 318 of the IPtelephony system 300 and/or by the communication path transition unit420 of the IP telephony software application 410 on the telephony device400. For example, in some embodiments, the communication traversing thecellular based communication path could be conferenced together with aseparate IP based communication traversing the IP based communicationpath, and then the cellular based communication path could beterminated. Of course, the transition from the cellular basedcommunication path to the IP based communication path could beaccomplished in various other ways. The method then ends.

With a method as illustrated in FIG. 5, and described above, acommunication can be established very quickly to prevent a calling partyfrom prematurely terminating a communication setup attempt. Also, whilethe communication is being setup over a cellular based communicationpath, the IP telephony system can take steps to activate an IP telephonysoftware application on the telephony device so that the call can laterbe transitioned to an IP based communication path. As soon as the IPbased communication path is available, the communication can betransitioned to the IP based communication path, which will likely belower cost.

In the method described above, the push notification unit 314 causes apush notification service to send a push notification to the telephonydevice 400 to cause the telephony device 400 to load and run the IPtelephony software application 410. That push notification could takemany different forms.

In some instances, simply receiving the push notification may cause thetelephony device 400 to load and run the IP telephony softwareapplication 410. In other instances, the push notification may cause amessage to be displayed or played to the user asking if the user wishesto receive an incoming call via the IP telephony software application410. If the user responds negatively, the IP telephony softwareapplication 410 would not be run. If the user responds affirmatively,the IP telephony software application 410 is loaded and run, and themethod described above continues so that the communication can betransitioned to the IP based communication path.

The type of push notification that is sent to the IP telephony device400 may be controlled and varied by the push notification unit 314 basedon various considerations. For example, some users may specify that whenthe IP telephony system 300 has received an incoming call that is to beterminated to the telephony device 400, the push notification unit 314should cause a push notification to be sent that causes the IP telephonysoftware application 410 to be automatically loaded and run. Other usersmay specify that the push notification should give them the option as towhether the IP telephony software application 410 should be loaded andrun. Thus, the push notification may send different types of pushnotifications to different users, based on their stated preferences.

In alternate embodiments of the invention, it may not be necessary for apush notification to be sent to the telephony device 400 in order forthe IP telephony software application 410 to be loaded and run. Forexample, the telephony device 400 may be configured such that anytimethe telephony device 400 receives an incoming cellular based call from aspecified originating telephone number, the telephony device 400 is toload and run the IP telephony software application 410. In thisinstance, the originating telephone number is the telephone number ofthe IP telephony system 300 which is placing the cellular based call toterminate an incoming communication to the telephony device 400.

When a telephony device 400 is configured in this fashion, each timethat a cellular based call is received, the telephony device 400examines caller ID information that is included in the call setupsignaling, and the caller ID information is compared to one or morepredetermined originating identifiers. If there is a match, thetelephony device knows to load and run the IP telephony softwareapplication 410. This eliminates the need for a push notification to besent. And as will be explained below, this can be quite advantageous insome circumstances.

In the method described above in connection with FIG. 5, once the IPtelephony software application 410 is loaded and running, and itregisters with the IP telephony system 300, an IP based communicationpath is automatically setup, and the communication which starts on thecellular based communication path is automatically transitioned to theIP based communication path. In alternate embodiments, these steps maynot all be performed automatically.

For example, in one alternate embodiment, once the IP telephony softwareapplication 410 has been loaded and is running, and it has registeredwith the IP telephony system 300, the quality monitoring unit 320 of theIP telephony system 300, and/or a quality monitoring unit 418 which ispart of the IP telephony software application 410,4 may perform checksto determine a strength or quality of an IP based communication paththat is established between the IP telephony software application 410and the IP telephony system 300. This could include a check of datapacket delivery statistics, and/or checks of a strength of a wirelessconnection that the telephony device 400 has established through thewireless data transceiver 402 or the wireless cellular transceiver 404.A decision is then made as to whether the strength and/or quality of theIP based communication path is sufficient to support a qualitycommunication over the IP based communication path. If so, thetransition is performed. If not, the communication may continue overfirst cellular based communication path.

In still other embodiments, the IP telephony software application 410may play or display a query to the user of the telephony device 400asking if the user wishes for the communication to be transitioned to anIP based communication path. That query could include information aboutan anticipated strength or quality of the IP based communication path,to help the user to decide whether to agree to have the communicationtransitioned to the IP based communication path. The user would thenmake a choice, and the communication would either continue on thecellular based communication path or be transitioned to the IP basedcommunication path in accordance with user's wishes.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate method embodying the invention which canalso be performed by the IP telephony system 300 and the telephonydevice 400. This method could be particularly advantageous where thetelephony device is a mobile telephony device that is roaming, and wherethe user wishes to avoid being charged high roaming fees for conductinga cellular based communication outside the user's native service area.

In this method, the telephony device 400 is configured such that if thetelephony device 400 receives an incoming call setup request over acellular network, and the incoming call includes caller ID informationthat matches one or more predetermined originating identifiers, then thetelephony device is to decline the call, but also load and run the IPtelephony software application 410.

The method 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 is performed when the IP telephonysystem 300 receives an incoming communication directed to the telephonydevice 400. The IP telephony system 300 initially tries to setup thecommunication via a cellular based communication path, as describedabove. This means the IP telephony system 300 places a call to thetelephony device 400 over a cellular network.

The method 600 begins and proceeds to step S602, where the telephonydevice 400 receives the call setup request from the IP telephony system300 via a cellular network. In step S604, the telephony device 400declines the call setup request. Next, in step S606, the telephonydevice 400 causes the IP telephony software application 410 to be loadedand run, and the IP telephony software application 410 registers withthe IP telephony system 300. The method then proceeds to step S608,where an IP based communication path is established between the IPtelephony system 300 and the IP telephony software application 410, sothat the communication can be terminated to the telephony device 400over the IP based communication path.

Although a method as illustrated in FIG. 6, and described above, willnot result in faster setup of the communication, the method can ensurethat the communication is ultimately established, even when thetelephony device 400 is roaming outside its native service area. In manycases, when a telephony device 400 is outside its native service area,push notification are not delivered to the device. As a result, it isimpossible to cause an IP telephony software application on thetelephony device to loaded and run using a push notification. However, alocal mobile telephony service provider can send a cellular call to thetelephony device. By using the incoming cellular call setup request asthe trigger for loading and running the IP telephony softwareapplication, one can enable the telephony device to receive an incomingcommunication from the IP telephony system without the use of a pushnotification. Moreover, if the telephony device is configured to declinethe cellular call setup request that acts as the trigger for loading andrunning the IP telephony software application, the user will not have topay to receive a cellular communication while roaming.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by one or more processors of atelephony device for setting up a telephony communication with an IPtelephony system, where the telephony device is capable of conducting anInternet protocol (IP) communication via a data network and acellular-based communication via a mobile telephony service provider,the method comprising: setting up a first communication path to the IPtelephony system via the mobile telephony service provider andcommencing the telephony communication over the first communicationpath; setting up a second communication path to the IP telephony systemvia a data network by: receiving a triggering communication which causesan IP software application on the telephony device to register with theIP telephony system; and setting up an IP based communication with theIP telephony system via the data network; and transitioning thetelephony communication from the first communication path to the secondcommunication path.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein setting up a firstcommunication path to the IP telephony system comprises receiving anincoming cellular-based call from the IP telephony system via the mobiletelephony service provider.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receivinga triggering communication comprises receiving a push notification. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a triggering communicationcomprises receiving an incoming cellular-based call via the mobiletelephony service provider.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein receivinga triggering communication comprises receiving an incomingcellular-based call via the mobile telephony service provider thatincludes predetermined caller ID information.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein setting up the first communication path comprises setting up acellular-based communication over the mobile telephony service provider,wherein setting up the second communication path comprises setting up anIP based communication with the IP telephony system via the datanetwork, and wherein the transitioning step comprises: conferencingtogether the cellular based communication and the IP basedcommunication; and terminating the cellular-based communication.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the transitioning step comprises playing ordisplaying a message to a user of the telephony device that asks if theuser wishes to transition the communication from the first communicationpath to the second communication path.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising determining a quality of a data connection between thetelephony device and the IP telephony system, and wherein the messagethat is played or displayed to the user includes information about thedetermined quality of the data connection.
 9. The method of claim 7,further comprising determining a quality of a cellular-based connectionbetween the telephony device and the mobile telephony service provider,and wherein the message that is played or displayed to the user includesinformation about the determined quality of the cellular-basedconnection.
 10. A system resident on a telephony device for setting up atelephony communication with an IP telephony system, where the telephonydevice is capable of conducting an Internet protocol (IP) communicationvia a data network and a cellular-based communication via a mobiletelephony service provider, comprising: means for setting up a firstcommunication path to the IP telephony system via the mobile telephonyservice provider and for commencing the telephony communication over thefirst communication path; means for setting up a second communicationpath to the IP telephony system via a data network by receiving atriggering communication which causes an IP software application on thetelephony device to register with the IP telephony system, and bysetting up an IP based communication with the IP telephony system viathe data network; and means for transitioning the telephonycommunication from the first communication path to the secondcommunication path.
 11. A system resident on a telephony device forsetting up a telephony communication with an IP telephony system, wherethe telephony device is capable of conducting an Internet protocol (IP)communication via a data network and a cellular-based communication viaa mobile telephony service provider, comprising: a cellularcommunication path setup unit including at least one processor that setsup a first communication path to the IP telephony system via the mobiletelephony service provider and that commences the telephonycommunication over the first communication path; an IP communicationpath setup unit that sets up a second communication path to the IPtelephony system via a data network by receiving a triggeringcommunication which causes an IP software application on the telephonydevice to register with the IP telephony system, and by setting up an IPbased communication with the IP telephony system via the data network;and a communication path transition unit that transitions the telephonycommunication from the first communication path to the secondcommunication path.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the cellularcommunication path setup unit sets up the first communication path byreceiving an incoming cellular-based call from the IP telephony systemvia the mobile telephony service provider.
 13. The system of claim 11,wherein the triggering communication is a push notification.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the triggering communication is an incomingcellular-based call received via the mobile telephony service provider.15. The system of claim 11, wherein the triggering communication is anincoming cellular-based call received via the mobile telephony serviceprovider that includes predetermined caller ID information.
 16. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the cellular communication path setup unitsets up the first communication path by setting up a cellular-basedcommunication over the mobile telephony service provider, wherein the IPcommunication path setup unit sets up the second communication path bysetting up an IP based communication with the IP telephony system viathe data network, and wherein the communication path transition unitconferences together the cellular based communication and the IP basedcommunication, and thereafter terminates the cellular-basedcommunication.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the communicationpath transition unit causes a message to be played or displayed to auser of the telephony device that asks if the user wishes to transitionthe communication from the first communication path to the secondcommunication path.
 18. The system of claim 17, further comprising aquality monitoring unit that determines a quality of a data connectionbetween the telephony device and the IP telephony system, and whereinthe message that is played or displayed to the user includes informationabout the determined quality of the data connection.
 19. The system ofclaim 17, further a quality monitoring unit that determines a quality ofa cellular-based connection between the telephony device and the mobiletelephony service provider, and wherein the message that is played ordisplayed to the user includes information about the determined qualityof the cellular-based connection.
 20. A non-transitory computer readablemedium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one ormore processors of a telephony device, causes the telephony device toperform a method for setting up a telephony communication with an IPtelephony system, the method comprising: setting up a firstcommunication path to the IP telephony system via the mobile telephonyservice provider and commencing the telephony communication over thefirst communication path; setting up a second communication path to theIP telephony system via a data network by: receiving a triggeringcommunication which causes an IP software application on die telephonydevice to register with the IP telephony system; and setting up an IPbased communication with the IP telephony system via the data network;and transitioning the telephony communication from the firstcommunication path to the second communication path.
 21. A methodperformed by one or more processors of a telephony device for setting upa telephony communication with an IP telephony system, where thetelephony device is capable of conducting an Internet protocol (IP)communication via a data network and a cellular-based communication viaa mobile telephony service provider, the method comprising: setting up afirst communication path to the IP telephony system via the mobiletelephony service provider and commencing the telephony communicationover the first communication path; setting up a second communicationpath to the IP telephony system via a data network; playing ordisplaying a message to a user of the telephony device that asks if theuser wishes to transition the communication from the first communicationpath to the second communication path; and transitioning the telephonycommunication from the first communication path to the secondcommunication path based on a user response to the message.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising determining a quality of a dataconnection between the telephony device and the IP telephony system, andwherein the message that is played or displayed to the user includesinformation about the determined quality of the data connection.
 23. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising determining a quality of acellular-based connection between the telephony device and the mobiletelephony service provider, and wherein the message that is played ordisplayed to the user includes information about the determined qualityof the cellular-based connection.
 24. A system resident on a telephonydevice for setting up a telephony communication with an IP telephonysystem, where the telephony device is capable of conducting an Internetprotocol (IP) communication via a data network and a cellular-basedcommunication via a mobile telephony service provider, comprising: acellular communication path setup unit including at least one processorthat sets up a first communication path to the IP telephony system viathe mobile telephony service provider and that commences the telephonycommunication over the first communication path; an IP communicationpath setup unit that sets up a second communication path to the IPtelephony system via a data network; and a communication path transitionunit that transitions the telephony communication from the firstcommunication path to the second communication path, wherein thecommunication path transition unit causes a message to be played ordisplayed to a user of the telephony device that asks if the user wishesto transition the communication from the first communication path to thesecond communication path.
 25. The system of claim 24, furthercomprising a quality monitoring unit that determines a quality of a dataconnection between the telephony device and the IP telephony system, andwherein the message that is played or displayed to the user includesinformation about the determined quality of the data connection.
 26. Thesystem of claim 24, further a quality monitoring unit that determines aquality of a cellular-based connection between the telephony device andthe mobile telephony service provider, and wherein the message that isplayed or displayed to the user includes information about thedetermined quality of the cellular-based connection.